[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/monster_44.png]] [[caption-width-right:350: [[Literature/BookOfRevelation "Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?"]]]]

->''"Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a nameless monster. The monster was dying to have a name."''

In 1986, life was good for Japanese neurosurgeon Kenzo Tenma. He was an accomplished doctor living in Germany, had the favors of the hospital director, a hot fiancee (daughter of the same director), and a promising future. But one day, the guilt of primarily attending to the wealthy patients and leaving poorer people in need of his skills drives him to first operate on a child who was hurt in the murder of his adoptive parents rather than the mayor of Dusseldorf. As a result, the child lives, the mayor dies in the hands of less talented surgeons, and Tenma is demoted by his superiors and dumped by his fiancee. Even though his life is now in ruins, Tenma still believes that he did the right thing.

Suddenly, the hospital directors that demoted Tenma die in very mysterious circumstances, leaving a vacant position that only he can fill. At the same time, the boy that Tenma operated on escapes from the hospital with his catatonic twin sister. Although none of the deaths can be directly attributed to the good doctor, a certain [[InspectorJavert Inspector Lunge]] is not very convinced of his innocence.

Nine years later, Tenma is still working in the same hospital when a criminal patient escapes in terror because he doesn't want to be killed by a person he calls the "Monster." Tenma follows him to a parking garage, only to see him mercilessly shot. His horror increases when he sees who the killer is: the same boy he operated on nine years ago, now a young adult. Johan Liebert, the boy in question, confesses that he was the one who killed the directors years ago as a way to give him thanks, and abandons the scene leaving the doctor alive.

Tenma, horrified to find that he is responsible for the existence of such a monster, abandons his work and his life, and devotes himself to finding Johan again and killing him once and for all. Following Johan's blood trail, however, becomes tricky and absorbing, and as Tenma's hunt becomes riddled with clues from the boy's childhood, finding the truth about Johan's past becomes as imperative as finding Johan himself. The quest is further complicated when Johan's crimes are ascribed to Tenma, and Lunge, convinced beyond a doubt that Tenma is the perpetrator, begins a chase of his own.

The series, written and drawn by Creator/NaokiUrasawa, one of the most popular mangakas in the business, has received several major awards and substantial critical acclaim; it is painstakingly drawn and [[ShownTheirWork thoroughly researched]], with an [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters extensive]] [[CastOfSnowflakes cast]] and a complex, [[JigsawPuzzlePlot multi-layered]] story. The [[{{Anime}} adaptation]] is almost identical to the [[{{Manga}} original]], differing only in several scenes that were cut and several that were added.

Not to be confused with the [[{{Film/Monster}} Oscar-winning film]] starring Creator/CharlizeTheron, even for a minute (although that one is also about a {{serial killer}}).

The anime was a fan-favorite on [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci Fi Channel]]'s Ani-Mondays block. Unfortunately, it is no longer available on {{Creator/Hulu}}, Netflix (subbed), or the Manga Entertainment app for UsefulNotes/Xbox360 (dubbed) as Viz Media dropped the license. Fortunately the Australian company Siren Visual [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com.au/news/2013-05-17/siren-visual-acquires-monster has licensed the anime]] for full release, dubbed and all in its respective country.

[[http://www.japanator.com/guillermo-del-toro-hbo-team-up-for-live-action-monster-28544.phtml Guillermo Del Toro]] has been trying to get it adapted into a live-action series for some time. HBO has turned it down, so time will tell if it ever comes to fruition.

----!!''Monster'' provides examples of:

* TheAbridgedSeries: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuTasheOstE&list=PLBlvuuhVf1hCaq1maI7850soATZ8F9-FM Here.]]* AbsenceOfEvidence: Johan's crime scenes are devoid of feeling. In one arc, this enables Lunge to determine that a certain murder was committed by a [[CopycatCrime copycat]] and not Johan.* AirVentPassageway: Used by a woman in labor.* AloneWithThePsycho: Happens quite often in this series.* AlwaysABiggerFish: Nina is saved from Professor Geidlitz by Johan. What makes this better is that they were using her as bait to lure Johan in to convince him to lead their group and make "the master race" dominant once again, seeing him as the next Hitler. Anna tried to warn them that Johan didn't care about their cause or any cause. [[EvilIsNotAToy They discover too late that she's correct.]]* AmbiguousSituation: [[spoiler: Richard's death. It's unclear if he [[DrivenToSuicide threw himself off the roof,]] got drunk and fell off, or Johan pushed him. Reichwein deduces that the alcohol found with him was a brand he hated, but it's not specified whether any alcohol was found in his system.]]* AngstySurvivingTwin: ''Another Monster'' reveals that [[spoiler: Johan and Nina's mother (whose real name is Viera) was herself a twin, but her sister died at birth. Viera's mother always compared her to her dead sister, which is why Viera tried to do her sister's share of everything - and strangely enough, she believed that her sister was in fact alive somewhere, under the name of ''Anna''.]]* TheAntichrist: A major motif in the series.[[note]]As mentioned by Tenma, Anna/Nina, and General Wolf, Johan is actually no typical neo-Nazi bigot (in spite of right-wing extremists wanting him to be the next Hitler); believe it or not, he's not interested in being a part of such groups -- after all, he works alone and he'll only use minions until he decides to dispose of them when he no longer finds any use for them (he wants to be the last person standing on Earth). However, the fact that he isn't an overt bigot just adds to his scare factor.[[/note]]* AmnesiacDissonance: Used with two of the main characters and some interesting children's books.* AnAesop: Even the most evil people deserve life and forgiveness. * AnimeThemeSong: Being anime, [[CaptainObvious it has one]], but it's quite unconventional. It was kept for all 74 episodes. It's an InstrumentalThemeTune apart from some [[OminousLatinChanting ominous chanting]].* AnyoneCanDie: Do you have a favorite character you really like? [[spoiler:Have they, at any point, so much as made eye contact with Johan]]? Beeeeg mistake. * ArcNumber: 402.* ArcWords:** "Look at how big the Monster inside of me has become!"** "People can be... whatever you want them to be."** [[spoiler:"Welcome home."]]* ArsonMurderAndJaywalking: Dr. Heinemann involves himself in dirty dealings, has complete disregard for human life, and steals candy from children. He pays dearly for that last one.* ArtShift: Bonaparta's story books.* AssholeVictim:** Thanks for killing [[spoiler:Heinemann]], Johan; [[spoiler: Oppenheim and Boyer]] were pretty despicable too. This is probably the only good thing you've ever done, Johan. But remember: the enemy of my enemy is not necessarily my friend.** And [[spoiler:the corrupt cops in Prague.]]* TheAtoner: [[spoiler:Franz Bonaparta]] as the most obvious example, but also Wolf, Schubert, Rosso, Bernhardt, and many others. Also given inversions and subversions, temporary and otherwise. Atonement and redemption are arguably two of the series' key themes.** Tenma himself could fit the mold fairly well - as kind-hearted as he is, he sees his absolute biggest mistake as being something he alone can fix. And despite numerous opportunities he gets where he could abandon his self-set mission, he refuses every time. Ironically, this trope is the reason Tenma saved Johan in the first place. * AWolfInSheepsClothing: Quite a few characters. * BadassGrandpa: Dr. Reichwein, who's able to take down two hoodlums ''after'' getting the tar kicked out of him. Lunge counts as well [[spoiler: for the epic fight with Roberto near the end]].* BadBoss: Director Heinemann [[GladIThoughtOfIt takes credit for Tenma's research]] and exploits his skills to save rich and influential patients... even if it means letting other patients die. He then does his best to screw Tenma's career over for daring to defy him. He also takes credit for research done by his subordinates.* BastardUnderstudy: Christof to Johan.** At the very least, [[spoiler: Peter Čapek]] and the organization he represents may have aspirations to mold Christof into this as a substitute for Johan [[spoiler: if the latter proves too unwieldy for them]], but according to Christof, the joke is on them, [[spoiler: since Christof was merely using the organization to arrange a reintroduction with Johan for himself]].* BeautyEqualsGoodness: Averted. People of all appearances occupy all positions on the morality spectrum. * BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: In oh, so many ways. Let's count 'em:** Be careful wishing your boss and his cronies would drop dead out loud -- it'll cost you if a certain young boy is in the room when you do it.** Wishing to find out what happened to your twin sibling when you were separated can go very badly wrong for both of you with massive psychological damage.** Wanting to start World War III by finding a charismatic leader with skills? Be careful with that thought...** Wishing to have a saviour to jump in and smash the bad guys who are hurting you and your friends can turn you into something amazing and awesome... but, also downright scary when you have no clue how you did what you did.* BilingualBonus: The German and Czech on signs, in documents, and everywhere else is pretty fun for students of the language.* BittersweetEnding: Everybody who survives the story gets new chances to rebuild their lives again, [[spoiler:but where did Johan go after the finale?]]** [[spoiler: According to Another Monster, [[OhCrap Johan survived the story and rebuilt his life]]...]]* BodyguardCrush: Martin develops one for Eva.* {{Bookends}}: [[spoiler:Johan gets shot in the head and Tenma saves him.]]* BoomHeadshot:** The series' favorite method of ending people. Probably [[JustifiedTrope justified]] in that most of the murders are committed by experienced killers who don't like to risk leaving anyone alive. Johan, however, [[spoiler:manages to get shot twice in the head by two separate people, neither of whom had much firearms experience. One was a little girl, and the other was a hallucinating alcoholic. It's like his brain is a bullet magnet.]] A bit of [[ShownTheirWork shown their work]] on that one. Johan is supposedly TheAntiChrist, and according to some legends about TheAntichrist, [[spoiler:he is supposed to suffer two head injuries before going on his ultimate rampage.]]** Martin mocks a guy for ''not'' shooting someone in the head. [[spoiler:That someone was him.]]* BreakTheCutie: Poor Nina, and poor, poor Tenma. * BrokenAce: Our resident twins. Johan is psycho and Nina is damaged and repressed.* BringMyBrownPants: The Baby, as Nina points a gun at him. The Baby is terrified and notes that she is most ''definitely'' Johan's sister.* BrokenPedestal: At the start, Tenma greatly looks up to his boss and seems to view him as a father figure. Said boss exploits his surgical skills for media publicity, plays political games that get one of Tenma's patients killed, and screws his career over for daring to defy him.** Nine years later, Tenma still tells his patients about how proud he is to have saved Johan, crediting him for ''turning his life around.'' Too bad it's all about to come crashing down...** Another example happens with Jan Suk, who admired [[spoiler:a police who actually was corrupt]].* ButNotTooForeign: Despite being set in Germany, the main character is Japanese. * ButtMonkey: Tenma at the beginning, detective Jan Suk, Otto Heckel, Eva and ALL of the children that show up in the story. * CareBearStare: Tenma. Also done by Grimmer, including on [[spoiler:[[TheSpock Lunge]]]], of all people. Nina, when not in a bad mood. Dieter's is a major one, and undoes Johan-induced damage.* CassandraTruth: Tenma has a lot of trouble getting people to believe his story.* CastOfSnowflakes: In this story, the character designs are very distinctive.* ChekhovsArmoury* ChekhovsArmy: Many of the major supporting characters take a few episodes after their introduction before they take an active role in the story.* ChekhovsGun: [[spoiler:Lunge packs a rifle and a pistol before his fight with Roberto. During the fight, he loses the first, but reveals the tiny gun.]]* ChekhovsGunman: [[spoiler:Wim's father, who is introduced as nothing more than Ruhenheim's town drunk, is the one who ends up shooting Johan, thereby saving Tenma from the SadisticChoice of either abandoning his ideals or watching Wim die.]] * ChekhovsSkill: [[BadassGrandpa Dr. Reichwein]] is shown on the jogging track of an indoor gym while mulling over a case. This helps when he chases after two youngsters at a dead sprint.** [[spoiler:He is also seen nagging his secretary to remember to lock the office door on her way out. When an unknown man enters later, a quick glance at the lock confirms that he is an intruder, buying him a few precious minutes to plan his escape.]]* CoDragons: Dr. Oppenheim and Dr. Boyer are this to Director Heinemann at the start, with Boyer also being TheStarscream to Tenma.* ColdBloodedTorture: Inspector Zemen subjects Grimmer to this... with nail clippers. It's way worse than it sounds.* CommieLand: Much of the story can be traced to communist East Germany and Czechoslovakia.* ConverseWithTheUnconscious:** Used earlier as an incredibly black [[BrickJoke brick joke]] after Tenma complains of the politics of his hospital to a supposedly unconscious ten-year-old Johan.** Before [[spoiler:Johan suddenly wakes up and just stares at Tenma.]] * CoolGuns: Nina's use of the four-barreled COP derringer.* CorruptCorporateExecutive: Director Heinemann is the hospital equivalent, caring only about money and media attention.* CryLaughing: Tenma [[spoiler: after Dr. Heinemann, Dr. Boyer, and Dr. Oppenheim are murdered and he gets promoted to an even higher position than he had lost]]. Later on, [[spoiler: ''Johan'']] is implied to have done this after [[spoiler: finding out that he wasn't the one who was really sent to the Red Rose Mansion]].* ADayInTheLimeLight: Very frequent. Chances are, if you're a side character in this series, you'll get your "very own episode" or your "very own series arc". Also an InvertedTrope, in that the title character (if that's how you see Johan, anyway) gets comparatively little air time.* DebateAndSwitch: Is all life equal? The only thing equal is death? Is it alright to save one, then? Do some people deserve to live more than others?* DeconstructedTrope: Many, but mostly [[SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism idealism vs. cynicism]] and what it means to be a complete monster.* DefusingTheTykebomb: Mostly played with, though ''not'' for laughs: Tenma gets his intervention in early with Dieter, Nina attempts this retroactively with her brother, and Grimmer tries with Pedrov's boys, [[spoiler:misguidedly as it turns out.]]* DepravedDwarf: The Baby, a dwarf and the leader of a criminal group.* DiesWideOpen: The security guard in Episode 4.* DespairEventHorizon: Tenma comes close to hitting this by the end of the ''second episode.'' It doesn't get much better from there.** [[spoiler: Nina comes perilously close near the end, to the point that Tenma has to talk her out of suicide.]]* DirtyCommunists: [[PlayedStraight Played straight]]. The crimes of neither the East German nor Czechoslovak communist regimes are ever justified and the flashbacks depict them as dark and unfriendly, which pretty much corresponds with the common view of the communist period in Eastern Europe. In a way may have even been taken [[UpToEleven Up To Eleven]] as the East German regim as portrayed in the story bears a hell lot of similarities to the Nazi one.** Although may be considered [[TruthInTelevision Truth In Television]], at least to some degree. The East German communist regime was notorious for its ideological devotion to the socialist cause (for instance most of the communist terrorist organizations in the world during the Cold War were funded by East Germany) and it did engage in various experiments tampering with human mind and body. In fact, evidence indicate that right before the fall of communism in Eastern Europe Premier Erich Honecker considered [[MoralEventHorizon slaughtering the East German protesters]], following the example set by the Chinese in Tiananmen Square.*** Fan analysis of the real-life analogues for the experiments/abuses depicted in the series, including some actually perpetrated under the Communist bloc, can be found [[http://obluda.wikia.com/wiki/Kinderheim_511#Trivia here]] and [[http://erichspringer.tumblr.com/post/88792509303/i-was-watching-the-german-doctor-wakolda-and-i here]].* DirtyCop: The two detectives hired by Johan to kill Nina's adopted parents, Inspector Zemen, Commissioner Hamrlik, Chief Detective Batella, and Detective Janacek.* DisproportionateRetribution: So, you disobeyed the director because you wouldn't walk out on your patient? He'll ruin your career over it.* DoggedNiceGuy: Lotte is a gender-flipped example. Unfortunately for her, Karl is pretty damn [[ObliviousToLove oblivious]] and she suffers quite a bit over her relationship woes (or the lack of). Jan Suk plays the trope straight, though it's brutually subverted in the fact that the sweet girl that he's been crushing on [[spoiler:turns out to be Johan in disguise.]] There's also Lipsky, who seems to have a thing for Nina, [[spoiler:but he ends up in a happy relationship with someone else in ''Another Monster''.]]* DramaticWind: Happens very often, especially in the anime. [[EmpathicEnvironment Empathetic environment]] generally tends to apply.* TheDragon: [[spoiler: Roberto]] on behalf of Johann.* TheDreaded: Everyone who knows and works with Johan , with the possible exception of Roberto, fears him to an extreme degree.** There are even occasions where people figure out that Johan is nearby because of the overwhelming fear that suddenly overtakes them.* DrivenToSuicide: Roughly half of Johan's victims end up killing themselves thanks to his MindRape abilities. He's even driven ''little kids'' (or at least tempted them) to kill themselves.* DrivingQuestion: What is Johan planning? [[spoiler:And does he even know himself?]]* DrowningMySorrows: Tenma's alibi against charges of KlingonPromotion, complete with public staggering and ranting. Generally a source of trouble elsewhere ([[spoiler:Eva, Richard, Martin, and Wim]]), though not anviliciously so - [[BestBeerEver best beer ever]] is all part of Grimmer's and Reichwein's positive outlooks. Just be careful with who you drink with.* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler: Muller, who has a pretty epic gunfight to save Nina's life. Considering he killed her foster parents, that was quite the redemption.]]* DysfunctionJunction: The entire plot is driven by this trope.* EarnYourHappyEnding: Despite almost setting itself up for a DownerEnding, most of the surviving characters definitely end up with this. [[spoiler:Lunge gets back in touch with his daughter, Dieter seems to be living happily with Dr. Reichwein, Nina is well on her way to becoming a successful lawyer, and Tenma has joined Doctors Without Borders. Eva kicks her problems and seems to get her life back in order. Even Johan, depending on what you consider a "happy ending", gets one.]]* EnfantTerrible: While there are various [[FreudianExcuse Freudian Excuses]] given as to why Johan is so incredibly vile and wretched, the most plausible theory out of all of them is that Johan was simply ''born'' evil. * EvasiveFightThreadEpisode: [[spoiler:Lunge]] vs. [[spoiler:Roberto.]]* EvilIsNotAToy: So many people try to take advantage and use Johan's evilness for their own means. They all find out, far too late, just how evil Johan is.* EvilIsPetty: Heinemann is all over this. He sabotages Tenma's career purely out of spite, and orders him to be discharged from caring for Johan because he doesn't want Tenma getting the media attention it would bring.* EvolvingCredits: The end credits gradually progress through the story, "The Nameless Monster", until the final episode where there's simply a static shot of [[spoiler:the empty bed where the supposedly comatose Johan was previously.]]* {{Expy}}: A few characters are based on members of Creator/{{Osamu Tezuka}}'s "Star System". The most obvious is Dr. Reichwein, who is a clear homage to beloved Tezuka character Shansaku Ban, right down to his trademark moustache. Johan also has too many similarities to Yuki Michio from Tezuka's suspense-thriller ''Manga/{{MW}}'' to be coincidence. Dr. Tenma shares his name with ''Manga/AstroBoy'''s creator, although he's actually closer to Manga/BlackJack. Urasawa would later go on to create ''Manga/{{Pluto}}'', a [[TheRemake remake]] of a story arc from the ''Astro Boy'' series.** It would seem that this series has characters resembling to their counterparts from ''Franchise/{{Halloween}}''. Tenma is Loomis, Johan is Michael, and Nina is Laurie.* FairWeatherFriend: Two of Tenma's "friends" at the hospital, Dr. Eisen and Dr. Boyer, are introduced effusively praising Tenma at the start of the first episode. Once Tenma goes against the director, they both turn against him, blaming him for the mayor's death, and Boyer is promoted to Tenma's old position. Boyer also dismisses Tenma as Johan's doctor, and ''really'' relishes telling him that.* FairyTaleMotifs: See list on the [[{{Trivia/Monster}} trivia]] page.* FamilyUnfriendlyAesop: In-universe, Franz Bonaparta's books deliberately contain plenty of these like, "Sometimes you're simply screwed no matter which choice you take."* FanDisservice: There are several instances, like when a kid searching for his mom ends up in a red light district, sees a prostitute bent over a trashcan ''servicing'' a patron, and is paid to watch. Also, Roberto, a very ugly character, who can be seen shirtless. Another being Nina in first half of the Prague arc being revealed to actually be [[spoiler:Johan in drag.]] * TheFarmerAndTheViper: Johan is probably the quintessential viper, with anyone who does a kindness to him suffering horribly for it. Tenma, the one who saved his life in the first place, gets the very worst of it through the horrible things that Johan does to others in order to repay him.* FictionalDocument: The various nihilistic children's books.* FilmNoir: It borrows a few elements every once in awhile.* {{Fingore}}: Grimmer is tortured by [[CorruptCop Corrupt Cops]] in this manner.* FourIsDeath: The Nameless Monster goes through four hosts. * FreudianExcuse: [[spoiler:Both twins [[DeusAngstMachina suffered through many traumatic experiences]], though in [[SubvertedTrope Johan's case]] it's [[MindScrew somewhat convoluted]].]] Played straight with many of the other Kinderheim 511 alumni - and in a frighteningly effective way, to boot.* GoneHorriblyRight: [[PlayedWith Played with]]. Kinderheim 511 was trying to create emotionless, vicious, SuperSoldiers who would kill without qualms. They succeeded, without a result. [[spoiler: Everyone became a murderer after killing one another (including the teachers).]] However, Kinderheim produced the single most ruthless killer in history through discovery, not concoction [[spoiler: after Johan's arrival - he being the one that turned the other occupants (students and teachers) against one another]].* GoneHorriblyWrong: Petr Capek's attempts to cultivate Johan into the next Hitler [[spoiler:end up destroying himself and his organization.]]* GoodDocBadDoc: Preludingly, "Good Doc" Tenma has a moral, blunt face-off over the phone with his "Bad Doc" boss about operating on patients in the order of their arrival; Tenma, after hanging up and against his boss's wishes, follows his conscience and operates on the first patient to arrive, rather than the city mayor. [[spoiler: The mayor dies and the first patient lives.]] Consequentially, his boss demotes him with the guarantee of a plateaued career. Tenma, furious (after having lost his fiance simultaneously), names his "Bad Doc" boss as [[ExaggeratedTrope the worst kind of doctor]] [[MoralEventHorizon and declares that "a man like that isn't fit to live"]]. [[spoiler: His patient, the one whom he preferred because of order of entry, overhears his saviour's honest confession, and kills his boss on his behalf.]]* GoodIsNotDumb: Dr. Tenma, Nina, and Dr. Reichwein.* GoodTimesMontage: Nina, Dieter, and Lipsky "making happy memories" in Prague.* GratuitousEnglish: The Japanese books have the subtitle of "HORRIBLE STORY". You can probably guess why Viz didn't carry that part over.* GratuitousGerman: Well, it's set in Germany, but this trope still applies because they switch off between using Japanese and German honorifics all the time.* GuiltComplex: Two-fold. From the start, Tenma utilizes unprecedented skill as a neurosurgeon nonchalantly; then, the wife of a construction worker - a man who had been brought into the hospital with a serious head injury - accuses him of consequentially killing her husband by operating on a patient who came to the hospital shortly after her husband instead of him (Tenma did so because of orders from his superiors). Tenma receives her words seriously. When he prepares to operate on his next patient, his boss orders him to operate on another patient of higher import than the initial one; Tenma refuses, taking the widow's words as his gospel, and operates on the first patient [[EnfantTerrible who - unknown to him - will kill everyone he can]]. Tenma saves his patient, his boss demotes him for his disobedience, and Tenma (accidentally) allows his psychopathic patient to overhear his complaints about the man who preferred that Tenma save someone else for greed's sake. So, his patient kills his boss. Nine years later, after Tenma receives a promotion because of his former boss's absence, he discovers the patient he saved is responsible for his boss's murder and many more. This double-stroke of guilt is the force that propels Tenma forward for the entire ensuing plot.* HalfIdenticalTwins : Johan and Nina. [[spoiler:Their mother even used to dress Johan up to resemble Anna while the children and she were in Prague. As young adults, Johan masquerades as Nina while he's in Prague, and when Nina gets there, she's confused by his female identity and how everyone seems to know "her."]]** A major plot point is whether [[spoiler: Anna (the twins' mother) dressed up Johan for his sake or for his sister's sake; Tenma ponders on the conclusion that she wanted to get rid of one of them, but who?]]* HarmfulToMinors: [[FreudianExcuse Sprouting from his vicious childhood]], [[spoiler: Johan]] will subject any minor he can to as-near-to-the-same childhood that he suffered.* HateSink: Tenma's superiors at the start, Blue Sophie, and Inspector Zemen, among others.* HaveYouToldAnyoneElse: When Jan Suk tells his boss about the corrupt officers on the force, his boss, who is in league with them, responds by telling him not to tell anyone about it. He doesn't pick up on the hint, even though the other corrupt officers told him the same thing.* HeWillNotCrySoICryForHim: Grimmer hugs Milos and starts to cry when he sees that Milos is so traumatised that he has lost all empathy and emotion. It works, because Milos's eyes flicker and lose their ThousandYardStare and he returns Grimmer's hug. * TheHeart: ''Monster'' arguably has [[{{Metaphorgotten}} several]], even if Tenma is the obvious one.** It's almost impossible not to love Nina, even when she's frightening enough to make [[spoiler: a Neo-Nazi piss himself]].* HeartwarmingOrphan: Nina, Dieter, Karl, and Grimmer. Averted with various other Kinderheim 511 alumni, and for Johan. This being ''Monster'', though, everyone, gets an [[OrphansOrdeal ordeal]].* HeelFaceDoorSlam: Poor [[spoiler: Adolf Junkers]]. Johan finds him just when he's about to confess to his crimes, and right after Tenma bought him that clock... * HeKnowsTooMuch: With rare exceptions, knowing anything about Johan's existence is enough for him to kill you.** When Suk finds out about the corrupt officers on the police force, they decide to murder him to keep the truth from getting out. [[VillainousRescue Johan kills them before they can get around to it.]]* HeroicSacrifice: A ''lot''.* HeroicBSOD: Several, particularly after [[spoiler:Nina]]'s memory returns. [[spoiler: Tenma even has to talk her out of suicide.]]** Tenma has one right at the start when he learns of the corrupt politics of the hospital. Then another one when his career gets screwed over, complete with DrowningMySorrows. Then another one during Johan's EstablishingCharacterMoment... You probably shouldn't play a drinking game with this.* HeroKiller: [[spoiler: Roberto]]: if there is a named character in the same space as he, two-times-out-of-three he will kill them. Also, [[spoiler: Johan (of course)]], who guarantees that AnyoneCanDie.* HeWhoFightsMonsters: What Johan hopes Tenma will turn into. [[spoiler:He comes close, but it doesn't work out.]]* HollywoodPsych: Mostly averted, but some questionable approaches to both theory and security are left in place even when officially rejected, e.g. on the issues of dissociative identity disorder, recovered memories, hypnosis, EpiphanyTherapy and inferring psychology from physiognomy. Also, "''Transcendental'' Criminal Psychology", Dr. Gillen?* HumansAreFlawed: Tenma and Johan draw polar opposite conclusions from this, testing each other's convictions to the limit.* IHaveYouNowMyPretty: This works remarkably poorly on both female leads.* IncestSubtext: Johan has quite the [[EvenEvilHasLovedOnes obsession]] over Nina. It doesn't help his case that she's probably the only person in the world that he cares about to the extent that people wanting Johan to join their cause have attempted to capture Nina merely because they know how important she is to him. [[spoiler:And ''he's'' the one who sent the anonymous "romantic" emails to an initially amnesiac Nina, who [[SurpriseIncest thinks]] she's been receiving emails from her "PrinceCharming."]]* INeverSaidItWasPoison: Tenma catches on that a couple of police officers work for Johan when one of them calls him "Dr. Tenma", despite the fact that he only introduced himself by name and didn't mention his profession.* InspectorJavert: Lunge, to the point where he takes a vacation to search for Tenma, [[spoiler:at least while he thinks that Tenma is guilty, only to finally come to the realization that Johan was the mastermind behind all the murders.]]* IntergenerationalFriendship: Dieter (a kid) and Tenma (an adult).* {{Irony}}: Just read the summary. For starters.* IOweYouMyLife: One reason Johan spared Tenma's life. [[spoiler:However, the other reason Johan is keeping Tenma alive is to kill everyone from his memories so Tenma can suffer alone.]]* ItsForABook: He just wants to ''[[MindRape interview]]'' you, [[spoiler:Detective Braun]]! [[spoiler: Richard]] [[IdiotBall really should have known better than to fall for that line]] too, considering that he already suspected Johan of being a murderer and Johan introduced himself by name. Someone with that kind of critical information shouldn't allow the person they suspect of being a killer anywhere near them, no matter what story the person uses.* ItsPersonal: Dr. Tenma views his pursuit of Johan this way, evidenced by his constant refusal of the help of his friends and subsequent declaration that he must be the one to kill him.** It's arguably even more personal for Nina, what with Johan being her twin brother and having [[spoiler: [[YouKilledMyFather killed her foster parents]]]]. ''Repeatedly''. * IWishedYouWereDead: Tenma wishes the hospital director and his underlings would die, while venting to a supposedly unconscious patient. Aforementioned patient gladly obliges.* JigsawPuzzlePlot: Mostly in terms of Johan's backstory.* JokerImmunity: [[spoiler:In ''Another Monster'', Johan is revealed to be alive three years after the events of ''Monster''.]] * TheKillerInMe: Lunge thinks Tenma has a SplitPersonality and is committing murders without realizing it since Johan does such a good job of staying invisible that the only clues he is able to find point to Tenma.* KillHimAlready: When it's the villain who says it, you're in for a [[MindRape treat]].* LampshadeHanging: The basic premise of the story is a stretch to believe (though Urasawa pulls it off), and every so often, someone in-story will helpfully point this out, usually at the expense of Tenma (or anyone who has come around to his view). See also ScullySyndrome.* LetThemDieHappy: Defied. [[spoiler:At the brink of death, Roberto asks Johan to "show him the landscape of the doomsday." Johan stares gloomily at his shoes and replies, "You can't see it."]]* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The last half of the manga collections include flowcharts with running updates to help you keep track of who's who and how they're related.* LocardsTheory: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]]. Inspector Lunge believes it. Unfortunately, it's not true.* LossOfIdentity: Analyzed and played with.* TheManBehindTheMan: [[spoiler:Franz Bonaparta, the one in charge of the experiments at Kinderheim 511 and the readings at the Red Rose Mansion.]] [[PlayingWithATrope Except]] he isn't the main villain.* MaybeEverAfter: Do Lotte and Karl get together after all? How about Tenma and Nina? Sure seems like there's interest on both parts near the end, but there's no clear answer aside from the subtext.%%* MeaningfulName: Johan, Ruhenheim, and what's up with Franz Bonaparta?* {{Meganekko}}: Lotte Frank.* MexicanStandoff: Gratuitous with a capital G. The whole series is made of this trope.* MightyWhitey: Japanese Dr. Tenma is the youngest and most skilled surgeon in a German hospital, goes about inspiring and being generally morally infallible as he travels around Eastern Europe.* MindRape: Happens quite often, usually thanks to Johan. Bonaparta has a whole pedagogy founded on this.* MissingMom: Helenka and [[spoiler:the twins' mother, Anna.]]* MoreThanMindControl: Johan's modus operandi. Roberto even seemed ''in love'' with him. (''"You have such nice eyes. Just like Johan."'') He also [[spoiler:reminded Roberto of his only memory: how much he loved the hot cocoa served weekly.]]* MuggingTheMonster: ** Blue Sophie tries blackmailing Johan. It doesn't end well.** The same goes for [[spoiler: [[DirtyCop Detective Patera]], when he tries hitting on "Anna" at the bar...]]* MurderIsTheBestSolution: This is [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] throughout the story, but [[PlayingWithATrope played straight]] at the very beginning when Johan saves Tenma's career by killing those who were keeping him down.* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: ** Bonaparta, after [[spoiler:Grimmer]]'s death.** Tenma, after [[spoiler:he realized what he brought back into the world when he saved Johan]] and [[spoiler: when he thinks he killed Roberto]].** Milch, when [[spoiler: the guards carrying him and Tenma to prison run over his brother, who was supposed to pretend collapsing on the road in front of the car like Milch had taught him in order to aid their escape]].* MythArc: It is the re-acquisition and destruction of Johan and the premature cessation of all of his schemes.* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Inspector Lunge's name translates to Mr. Stake. Also, Roberto's real name is [[spoiler:Adolf.]]* NearVillainVictory: Johan almost completes his plan in [[spoiler:getting Dr. Tenma to shoot and kill him and thus corrupting him.]]* NeverMyFault: Tenma's superiors blame him for the death of the mayor because he wouldn't walk out of his own operation when doing so would likely have killed his patient.* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed:** Dr. Julius Reichwein looks like Creator/WilfordBrimley.* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Tenma ultimately becomes a fugitive because the young boy whose life he saved murders those with whom he's connected.* NoMrBondIExpectYouToDine: Pulled twice with Nina, and then with a [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]] [[AvertedTrope aversion]] for Grimmer and Tenma in Prague. * NoNameGiven: So many characters that a major theme in the series is how it is not to have a name. Others live with multiple aliases. A character who goes by a nickname for the entire series dies before his real name is revealed. Johan and Nina's true names were never given; [[spoiler:Tenma learns their real names in the end, [[TheUnreveal but the audience doesn't]].]]* NotSoDifferent: Played with a bit regarding Tenma and Johan. Inspector Lunge analyzes Johan's crimes from the perspective that Tenma is the killer and that "Johan" is simply an alternate personality who doesn't really exist. This may seem like a stretch, but his logic isn't as far-fetched as one would think. Lunge reasons that Tenma would have to have a calm, clinical mindset to perform his surgeries — and that is exactly what he reads from Johan's crime scenes. Complicating things is something both characters ''do'' have in common: [[IntelligenceEqualsIsolation their disconnect from others and society in general]]. Upon researching Tenma's background and concluding that he doesn't fit into Japanese society, Lunge simply reinforces his view that Tenma's detachment is what allows him to kill without a second thought. [[NotSoSimilar In reality, Tenma isn't as much like the real killer as Lunge thinks he is]].** Johan and Nina, despite being PolarOppositeTwins, have some key similarities. The most obvious similarities are that both of them have had their sense of identity disturbed at one point or another and have lost much of the childhood memories. Furthermore, while Johan is clearly the most dangerous twin, neither one of them is someone you should mess with. But what's most disturbing is that [[spoiler: Nina exhibits a violent inner "monster" of her own when placed under hypnosis. This repressed dark side was created by the very same events that made Johan who he is. The only difference is that those events ''actually happened'' to Nina, whereas Johan simply ''convinced'' himself that everything happened to him]]. * NotSoStoic: ** Out of all people, thanks in part to his CharacterDevelopment, [[spoiler:Lunge gets angry when Roberto starts talking about his failed marriage and how his grandchild doesn't even know his biological grandfather.]] . Also, [[spoiler: Lunge gets very giddy when he learns that Tenma saved his life]]. A third one by Lunge [[spoiler: bringing a beer to Grimmer's grave as they promised each other in a heartfelt moment, and informing his fellow mourners that he was able to gain contact with his estranged daughter and grandson by email, even recognizing that they barely knew each other at all to begin with]].** Grimmer has great difficulty [[StepfordSmiler properly expressing emotion]], always asking himself what is the appropriate response for this situation. But after watching [[spoiler:one of his boys turning towards the dark side]], he breaks down and cries, in genuine sorrow and worry.* ObsessiveCompulsiveBarkeeping: A bartender Tenma talks to does this.* OffTheWagon: Subverted with Richard Braun. Averted with Eva.* OhCrap: Everyone ''every time something happens''.* {{Oktoberfest}}: Notable for being completely avoided. Monster is one of the most realistic portrayals of post-reunification Germany found in non-German fiction.* OlderHeroVsYoungerVillain: Tenma vs. Johan. Tenma is not old, but is much older than Johan.* OminousLatinChanting: The series' opening theme, "Grain."* OneSteveLimit: Averted. The series gives us three Martins and two Ottos. [[spoiler:And two Adolfs.]]* OneWordTitle* OnlyAFleshWound: Mostly averted. A few people escape shots to the shoulder, but gut and thigh wounds kill several people. Averted when a character's shoulder's shot which cripples his arm for the rest of the series.** Johan gets [[spoiler: shot in the head TWICE and gets away with little neurological damage the first time; not known the second time, though]].* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: Mafia boss "The Baby."** Roberto is only known as such for the majority of the series; the audience eventually learns his name when it is revealed to some characters, but no one bothers to tell him.** The twins' real names are [[spoiler: revealed to Tenma, but never to the audience; it's not known whether they learn their own names themselves, given that at that point it doesn't matter anymore]].* OrphanageOfFear: Kinderheim 511.* OrphanageOfLove: Anna/Nina's orphanage.* PapaWolf: [[spoiler: Near the end of the series, Win's drunk, alcoholic father, shoots Johan in the head when Johan threatens Tenma with Win's life.]]* ParentalAbandonment: There is a mystery behind what happened to the Liebert twins' biological parents. [[spoiler:It's implied that their father was killed, but it's later revealed that the mother turns out to still be alive.]]* ParentalMarriageVeto: According to ''Another Monster'', this was a major reason why Eva broke off her engagement with Tenma.* ThePatientHasLeftTheBuilding: Johan is supposed to be in bed after brain surgery for a while, but Johan sneaks out and takes his sister with him. This however gets on a later stage with the locksmith, which becomes the first victim we see Johan execute in the series (the doctors he murdered are on another issue, that is indirect and as a "favor" to Tenma).* PetTheDog: Eva has a straight moment, while Johan loves to [[SubvertedTrope subvert]] this for all it's worth. Roberto has a retroactive one.* PhotoOpWithTheDog: Played straight as far as Heinemann's motivations are concerned. Otherwise, not so much.* PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou: [[spoiler: Johan]]: his every action is an incitement for the right man to end his life.* PointThatSomewhereElse* PolarOppositeTwins: Johan and Nina.* ThePowerOfFriendship: Both played straight ''and'' mind-bendingly subverted, depending on who's in the scene. * TheProfessor: All the psychologists we find.* TheProfiler: Dr. Rudy and Lunge. Several other characters show elements of this as well.* PublicSecretMessage: A former college classmate needs to get in touch with Tenma, so he puts an ad in the paper that simply says "Let's discuss our memories of cheating" (on tests).** [[spoiler: Lunge figures it out pretty easily]].* RareGuns: Tenma uses one of the rarest guns in existence--a one-off prototype sniper rifle which was turned down by the German army for being too expensive. Because the gun never got past the prototype stage, it was never given a true name.** He never fires it at anyone and is presumably destroyed in the library fire.* RescueRomance: This trope gets a pretty rough time of it, subversion-wise. ** Not counting that [[spoiler: Tenma rescues a mountain of people, who end up loving Tenma in one way or the other and their main drive is to prevent him from killing Johan or anyone for that matter]]. * RedemptionEqualsDeath: Muller, [[spoiler: one of the cops who killed Nina's foster parents]].* RedemptionInTheRain: Deconstructed into tiny little pieces [[spoiler:and scattered all over Ruhenheim.]] ** A tamer subversion is when Eva begins crumbling apart at the moment she gazes at Tenma's apartment while standing in the rain.* {{Retirony}}* TheReveal: A ''lot''. One has trouble just counting how many people died.* {{Revenge}}:** Nina wants to kill [[spoiler:Johan]] primarily for killing her foster parents, though he's also killed almost every adult who has been kind to them since they were children. [[spoiler: She later wants to kill Johan so she can prevent Tenma from doing so; this is mutual]].** Eva wants Tenma to rot in prison for life out of spitefulness due to the latter dumping her and later attempts to get revenge [[spoiler:on Johan]] after [[spoiler:Martin]]'s death. [[spoiler: She gets over both]].** [[spoiler:The twins' mother Anna]] warns Franz Bonaparta that she will get her revenge on him through her children. [[spoiler: Cue almost twenty years and hundreds of corpses; gallons upon gallons of blood on the hands of a man that almost stopped everything because he fell in love with her]]. Way to stick it up to him, girl!* ReverseWhodunnit: It is clear that Johan Liebert is the murderer. The challenge is to stop him.* RhetoricalRequestBlunder: Dr. Tenma says in front of the [[ConverseWithTheUnconscious apparently unconscious]] Johan that his corrupt superiors at the hospital "would be better off dead!" So Johan kills them. * RoomFullOfCrazy: Johan likes to leave messages on walls. And bits of derelict industrial sites. [[spoiler:He also goes to some trouble to set up a RoomFullOfCrazy based on ''someone else's'' childhood trauma, all for MoreThanMindControl.]]* RousseauWasRight: Tenma's conclusion, and arguably that of the series itself.* SadisticChoice: Johan presents [[spoiler: Tenma]] with one right at the end, when he holds a gun to [[spoiler: Wim]]'s head to force [[spoiler: Tenma]] to choose whether he will [[spoiler: shoot Johan against his principles]] or allow [[spoiler: Wim]] to die. [[spoiler: Thankfully, Wim's father's intervention alleviates the necessity for Tenma to take either option.]]* ScareChord: Happens when a supposedly comatose Johan opens his eyes in episode 2.* ScullySyndrome: Virtually epidemic, if understandable. Lunge is the most standout case, but nearly everyone tends to come down with a dose of this when they first hear the main story. [[spoiler:Check out the late-arriving cops in Ruhenheim's reaction to Gillen's explanations.]]* SerialEscalation: Just how bad does a person have to be before you, the viewer, stop sympathizing with them?* SerialKiller: You have three seconds to make a guess who. Though he's far from the only one.* SexyDiscretionShot: Five minutes into the first episode, Eva lies on top of Tenma and suggests they have sex before the camera pans to the window of their apartment. It's the first and last one in the series.* ShaggyDogStory: A rare non-negative example. [[spoiler:Tenma's outlook on humanity by the end is more important than whether or not he kills Johan. When he went all that way to let him live again, one can say it made the buildup pointless, but it showed that Tenma felt that he wasn't necessarily wrong in the first place.]]* ShipTease: The subtext between Tenma and Nina.* ShoutOut: The central chase of Tenma owes quite a bit to ''Series/TheFugitive'' TV series (as did the TV "Hulk" for that matter). ** Mr. Rosso mentions that one of his favorite films is ''Summertime'' from 1955. ** The professor in Nina's introductory scene is a shout out to John Houseman's character in ''The Great Paper Chase.'' ** The backstory of the [[spoiler:escape artist who helps Tenma]] features a shoutout to ''Film/TheShawshankRedemption''. ** Johan's character also had similarity with [[ComicBook/RedSkull another Johann who was involved with Nazi.]] ** Grimmer and Suk get data of tests conducted at 511 Kinderheim and a tape of an interview with Johan from a safe box numbered [[Anime/GhostInTheShell 2501]].* ShownTheirWork: The operation scenes are largely accurate, and the renderings of Germany and the Czech Republic are extremely faithful.%%* ShutUpHannibal: Lunge's response to [[spoiler:Roberto]]'s speech about Johan's plan.* SlasherSmile: While he rarely ever shows emotion, right before he [[spoiler:asks Richard if he would like a drink]], Johan makes one of the most sadistic slasher smiles imaginable once he realizes that he's broken [[spoiler:Richard.]]** Heinemann smiles in that way many times.** Roberto, in turn, rarely stops smiling.* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism: The very plot essentially revolves around the question of whether Tenma's idealism and determination to cause good by doing good can survive against Johan's horrifyingly convincing attempts to demonstrate that they're NotSoDifferent and that it's all a CrapsackWorld in which an act of human kindness is objectively futile.* SlidingScaleOfSillinessVersusSeriousness: Very much on the serious side. Some welcome touches of silliness, albeit often as a foil to the horror aspects. * SmallRoleBigImpact: The Turkish man's wife in Episode 1. She's in one scene, but without her we wouldn't have a story.* SmugSnake: Many, many people. Dr. Heinemann, Blue Sophie, and Christof are probably the worst examples. * SocialServicesDoesNotExist: Justified (sort of) in the [[CommieLand Eastern Bloc]] sections since Bonaparta has connections in high places, but apart from the Lieberts, ''none'' of the twins' (or Johan's) foster parents appear to have gone through any formal process, or been caught, even when registering kids in school or reporting them missing to the police.** Dieter chooses to stay with Tenma while on the run; Nina even suggests that he shouldn't be involved, but the damn runt is tremendously stubborn. For a while, Dieter hangs with Tenma to [[spoiler: keep him from carrying out his assassination plot against Johan, though later, no adult that he comes across with even considers trying to do something about him]]. * SoundtrackDissonance: The second ending, when used after a particularly TearJerker-y or dramatic scene.* SpannerInTheWorks: The only thing Johan couldn't plan for? [[spoiler:The fact that Wim's father would be there to shoot him in the head instead of Tenma.]]* SpellMyNameWithAnS:** Johan/Johann, Kenzo/Kenzou, and Runge/Lunge, among others.** In case you were wondering, it's Johan, Runge, Braun, and Schubert (as opposed to Shuwald). It's all in the series, they show it on business cards, posters, and such. Tenma's first name, seeing as everything takes place in Germany, is more accurately transliterated without the 'u'. Despite ''Johan'' being perhaps less accurate than ''Johann'', it is still the official name used by Urasawa.* SplitPersonality: Tenma and Nina draw to the conclusion that Johan has two personalities: his normal self and the "monster" inside him. Later, it is revealed that Johan was merely toying with them. Lunge incorrectly deduces that Tenma has a split personality named "Johan" who is committing all the murders.** SplitPersonalityTakeover: A frequent outcome of applied Bonaparta-style pedagogical experiments, though some of the claims to it are put in question.** Also [[spoiler: The Magnificent Steiner]], until the 3rd-to-last episode.* SternChase* StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred* SuicideByCop: [[spoiler:What Johan hopes to accomplish.]]* SuicideDare: Johan does this to several characters, most notably when he teaches kids to balance themselves on guardrails as a "game."* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: The German and Czech words and names are mostly accurate.* SycophanticServant: [[ManipulativeBastard Johan's]] [[MoreThanMindControl human tools]] run the gamut of competence, according to his needs, but some, like [[spoiler:Hartmann and various incarcerated killers]] are this, and at most serve to help him spread havoc and misery.* TakingOverTheTown: A variation occurs in the finale; Johan plans to give himself the "perfect suicide" where he and some of his accomplices move to a rural town right before it gets isolated by seasonal bad weather, cut off communications with the outside world, provide guns to some of the civilians and then just watch them go crazy with paranoia and kill each other. [[spoiler: He is stopped before casualties get too high, but there were still plenty of deaths from it.]] While this is a case of KillEmAll rather than trying to take control, the tactics he uses are quite normal for this trope, and in a way, he is taking over the town by infecting them with his own nihilism and hopelessness.%%* TalkingTheMonsterToDeath: * TalkingToTheDead: Quite a few times, [[spoiler:though sometimes, the person addressed is [[HesJustHiding just hiding]].]] Sometimes accompanied by LibationForTheDead, or (guess who?) setting something on fire.* TastesLikeFriendship: Repeatedly, almost to the point of FoodPorn, fortunately at a reasonable distance from the horror, and with an eclectic range of cuisines. Also used as a connection with others, rejection of nihilism, or undergoing a HeelFaceTurn. Bad guys are rarely shown enjoying food, and if they do, they tend to be [[EvilTastesGood weird]] about it.** Tenma's favorite meal is a sandwich, and is so because of Nina; even Dieter learns to prepare them and tells Nina that the sandwiches are Tenma's favorite.* TemptingApple: Johan gives Schubert an apple to convince him that the woodland of his younger days is still there. In the short run, this ingratiates himself with him; in the long run, if he ever finds out otherwise it's likely to contribute into Johan's favourite trick of driving people to suicide.* TemptingFate: [[spoiler:"I'm surprised I lived through that." Cue the fatal bullet wound.]]** Blue Sophie to Johan: "How big is the body count again?" [[spoiler: It's about to get one bigger.]]* ThemeTuneCameo: Occasionally you'll hear the credits theme in the background of a bar or restaurant.* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself* ThisIsUnforgivable: [[spoiler:Anna to Franz Bonaparta.]]* TitleDrop* ThouShaltNotKill: Tenma plans on keeping his hands clean until he gets his chance with Johan. [[spoiler:And once he does, he changes his mind.]]* TokenEvilTeammate: Otto Heckel, among Tenma's allies, is a thief and helps Tenma out of greed. Also, he unsuccessfully tries to corrupt [[spoiler:Dieter]].* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler:Some of Johan's traumatic memories that were supposed to be his FreudianExcuse were actually based off what Anna told him after ''she'' returned from the Red Rose Mansion. ''Not him''.]]* TooDumbToLive: The patient in episodes 3 and 4. The former has him run straight into traffic without hesitation, while the latter has him run into an unlit area at night. After seeing a security guard fall down dead. While there's someone really nasty trying to kill him. [[DullSurprise Surprise surprise]], this patient is promptly found and horribly killed. Not to mention Tenma and Johan are having an extended conversation for about five minutes, while the patient just ''sits there'' the whole time waiting to be gunned down. Granted, running might not have done him much good, but anything's better than just sitting there.** [[spoiler: Richard Braun]] decides it's a good idea to go out drinking with his lead suspect (who introduced himself by name) without telling anyone. He follows this up by following said suspect up to an abandoned rooftop in the middle of the night, while shouting, "[[TemptingFate I know what you're up to, kid!]]" Needless to say, it ends badly.** In the last chapters, [[spoiler:Tenma tells a lady to stay where she is, a safe place during a shooting, but she abandons that area and gets shot]].* TrainingMontage: Episode 9 of the anime, in which Tenma learns to use firearms.* TranslationConvention: Japanese stands in for mostly German; on other occasions it stands in for English, Czech, maybe French, and Latin.** This is particularly weird in a scene where Dieter, who only speaks German, needs Tenma to translate what a British couple is saying, even though we hear them all speaking the same language.** You'd also notice that there's an awful lot of locals in Prague, Czech Republic, who apparently speak fluent German (if not all of them).* TraumaCongaLine: Tenma and Johan both went through this.** Tenma's father wanted him to take over the family clinic at his brother's expense, which Tenma didn't want. He came across one of Dr. Heinemann's papers and seized the chance to come to Germany, which fractured his relationship with his family. Tenma ends up writing many of his boss's papers for him, while recieving no credit. He ends up in a relationship with Eva, who didn't treat him very well. Then he finds out his boss is corrupt and got one of his patients killed. His boss shows no remorse and cancels important research Tenma was working on so that he can write a speech for him. Then Johan comes along, and after a SadisticChoice from hell over whom to save, Tenma's career gets wrecked seemingly beyond repair. To top it off, that paper that originally inspired him wasn't even written by the director.** Johan is born from a eugenics experiment, with his father implied to have been killed soon after his birth. He and his sister grow up rather isolated, before [[spoiler: Bonaparta [[SadisticChoice makes his mother choose who to give up]], with her reaction seriously messing him up. His mother is taken away as well, leaving him alone in the house with only [[FamilyUnfriendlyAesop Bonaparta's books]] for company. When his sister comes back and tells him what happened, Johan internalizes her experiences and thinks they happened to ''him.'']] They run away together, with Johan killing anyone who tries to help them out of paranoia. They end up passing out from exhauston and starvation. Then Johan is separated from his sister ''again'' and sent to [[OrphanageOfFear 511 Kinderheim.]] Aside from experiencing everything the others did there, he was drugged and feared that he would lose his memories of his sister. He ended up inducing everyone else into a riot to escape. He gets reunited with his sister, and they're sent to live with the Lieberts, only for [[spoiler: Bonaparta]] to show up one night. Johan is convinced that he is there to harm them, and ends up shooting the Lieberts dead. When his sister discovers this, [[PleaseKillMeIfItSatisfiesYou he asks her to shoot him.]] She does, and it's later implied that he may have turned out different had she not done so. * TruthInTelevision: A Japanese neurosurgeon living in Germany is actually not as strange as you might think. Japan has roughly the same number of neurosurgeons as the United States, a country with more than twice its population. For that reason, many of them end up going abroad in search of work. The two most common places they go are Germany and the US. * TurnTheOtherCheek: Tenma for the most part and Anna/Nina eventually. Completely averted with the twins' mother.* TwinDesynch: Played straight, subverted, ''and'' twisted.* {{Tykebomb}}: Aiming to build SuperSoldiers can backfire on everyone involved [[spoiler:not just the subjects, though they tend to get off least lightly]].* {{Ubermensch}}: Johan, Tenma, and arguably Nina/Anna as well.* UnderdressedForTheOccasion: Eva won't let Martin accompany her into the hotel because he doesn't meet the dress code.* UnmovingPlaid: In the manga.* TheUnreveal: [[spoiler:Johan's and Anna/Nina's real names.]]* ViewersAreGoldfish: The first episode of the anime.* VillainEpisode: The Baby gets one of these [[spoiler:just before he gets killed.]]* TheVillainMakesThePlot: Notable aversion. Johan is not the only clever aspect of this series, nor does he often appear on screen.* VillainousBreakdown: [[spoiler:Despite assuring himself that everything is going according to plan, [[SmugSnake Petr Capek]] starts to grow increasingly paranoid after The Baby is killed, eventually killing his own bodyguard in a fit of paranoia. An action which is later avenged by the bodyguard's comrades, who shoot down Capek.]]* WeCanRuleTogether: You'll never guess who uses this for UnwittingPawn bait on lesser bads.* WellIntentionedExtremist: Lawyer and his friend.* WhatBeautifulEyes: Roberto telling Nina, "You have beautiful eyes. Just like Johan's..."* WhatHappenedToTheMouse:** To Karl Schuwald's foster parents, the Neumanns. Though it can be assumed that after Hans Georg Schubert officially accepted Karl as his biological son, Karl's foster parents probably accepted it.** [[spoiler:The couple Johan stayed with in Munich.]] Reichwein warns them that they'll likely end up being killed like all of the others. Whether it happened or not is never mentioned, [[spoiler:but it can be assumed that it did.]]** There's also Gustof, who is never mentioned again after he's taken to the hospital, as is Christof.** The woman pretending to be Roberto's wife is never scene again after she helped to torch the library.** Muller's new family after his death: [[spoiler: he kills Roberto's henchmen while rescuing Nina, but there's no knowledge of whether there were any repercussions against them for his actions, as Roberto DID threaten Muller by using his family against him just hours before; Nina might have told them to flee, but it's not known]].* WhatTheHellHero:** The Turkish man's wife rebukes Tenma because he could have saved his husband, who arrived earlier and should have priority because of that.** Lunge disapproves that Gillen and Tenma had cheated on an exam and scolds mildly the former.* WhoWouldWantToWatchUs: "Go write a book about it. Won't sell, though."* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: Roberto favors this approach when it comes to Nina, Tenma, or anyone in Johan's way, but apparently gets overruled.* WickedCultured: Johan, Kristof, and various doctors dabbling in eugenics and brain-washing.* WillTheyOrWontThey: Between Nina leaning on Tenma every two panels and Tenma [[spoiler:telling Nina that he has nothing to live for without her]], it's definitely there. Even if you're [[BrainBleach disturbed]] by the [[MayDecemberRomance age difference]]. To a lesser extent, Karl and Lotte.** Regarding Tenma and Nina, after what they've been through together, one is left not really caring about the age difference anyway. In the end [[spoiler: Nina is ecstatic when she hears that Tenma is coming back to Germany]].* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Johan for Karl, Lotte, and Nina. In Another Monster, Karl reveals that [[spoiler:despite everything Johan put him through, Karl could never bring himself to hate Johan as he believed Johan's tears for him were real]]. Lotte, similarly, says that she doesn't hate him and that she believes [[spoiler:Johan couldn't bring himself to kill Karl because Karl wanted things -- family and a home -- that Johan could never have nor understand]]. Nina, for her part, believes that [[spoiler: had she not shot Johan, had she been able to forgive him, he would not have continued killing]].* WorldHalfFull: The world of ''Monster'' is filled with some very nasty things, but there's a lot of hope if you know where to look.* WorldOfCardboardSpeech: [[spoiler: At one point in the anime, Lunge holds Tenma at gunpoint and tells him how he (mistakenly) arrived at the conclusion that he is the killer, one of the points of his reasoning being that, since Tenma is a surgeon, Lunge expects him to be gifted with the exact type of cold efficiency he reads in the killer's M.O.. Tenma immediately denies that, underlining that bearing the reponsability of life and death over his patients makes him anything but cold]].* WorthyOpponent: Johan seems to see Tenma and Nina this way, since they're pretty much the only two people he doesn't want dead. It sure doesn't stop him from trying to destroy their lives, though.* WouldntHurtAChild: [[AvertedTrope Yeah, right]].* WrongGenreSavvy:** Nina thinks the romantic emails she's been receiving are from her "PrinceCharming." They're actually from [[spoiler:[[{{Squick}} Johan]].]]** Suk ends up in the same situation, believing that his story is a romance where he wins over the beautiful girl in the bar. [[spoiler:[[UnsettlingGenderReveal Turns out this was Johan too]].]]* TheWrongRightThing: How Tenma got into this.* YankTheDogsChain: It's almost a guarantee that once someone's luck turns around, they are going to be killed. Almost.* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Johan likes to clean up loose ends. And by "clean up," we mean "murder."* YouMeddlingKids: [[spoiler:Pedrov/Biermann tells [[DramaticIrony Grimmer]] the 511 Kinderheim project would have worked out just great, if his successors hadn't let the [[DramaticIrony anomalous]] EnfantTerrible get out of hand.]] Also played straighter with Dieter's and the orphanage boys' interventions.* YouMonster: Quite a few characters to Johan. It's right there in the title.* YoungConqueror: Johan has all the qualifications, but rather than changing the world, he wants to destroy it, [[ForTheEvulz just because he can]].* YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame: "But you're special, Doctor Tenma. You saved my life. You're like a father to me... I'm really glad I was able to pay you back... All I did was grant your wish." Cue Tenma's HeroicBSOD.* ZenSurvivor: There's a nod to this trope in Rosso, Wolf, and other minor characters, though it's never fully played straight.----